Today in History

Today is Friday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2014. There are 68 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 24, 1939, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra recorded their signature theme, "Let's Dance," for Columbia Records in New York. DuPont began publicly selling its nylon stockings in Wilmington, Delaware.

On this date:

In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.

In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.

In 1936, the short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet was published in The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1940, the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)

In 1962, a naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.

In 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zambia.

In 1972, Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who'd broken Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.

In 1987, 30 years after it was expelled, the Teamsters union was welcomed back into the AFL-CIO. (However, the Teamsters disafilliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)

In 1994, actor Raul Julia died in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, at age 54.

In 2002, authorities apprehended Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Maryland, in the Washington-area sniper attacks. (Malvo was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.)

Ten years ago: A plane owned by top NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports crashed near Martinsville, Virginia, killing all 10 people aboard. A Russian-U.S. crew aboard a Soyuz capsule returned to Earth from the international space station in a pinpoint landing in Kazakhstan. Cardinal James A. Hickey, former archbishop of Washington, D.C., died at age 84. The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 for a 2-0 World Series lead. Arizona's Emmitt Smith broke Walter Payton's NFL record for 100-yard games rushing with his 78th.

Five years ago: Pakistani officials announced that their soldiers had captured Kotkai, the strategically located hometown of Pakistan's Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, and one of his top deputies, after fierce fighting.

One year ago: President Barack Obama made a plea for Republican cooperation on immigration, telling a White House event, "Rather than create problems, let's prove to the American people that Washington can actually solve some problems." In an apparent first, a majority-female officiating crew worked an NCAA college football game; head linesman Yvonda Lewis, line judge Tangela Mitchell, field judge Sebrina Brunson and back judge Krystle Apellaniz were part of the seven-person crew for the Division II game between Miles and Lane, which Miles won, 38-26. Former World Bank economist Augusto Odone, 80, who defied skeptical scientists to invent a treatment to try to save the life of his little boy wasting away from a neurological disease (and who was portrayed by Nick Nolte in the 1992 film "Lorenzo's Oil"), died in Aqui Terme, Italy.

Today's Birthdays: Football Hall-of-Famer Y.A. Tittle is 88. Rock musician Bill Wyman is 78. Actor F. Murray Abraham is 75. Movie director-screenwriter David S. Ward is 69. Actor Kevin Kline is 67. Former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume is 66. Country musician Billy Thomas (Terry McBride and the Ride) is 61. Actor Doug Davidson is 60. Actor B.D. Wong is 54. Singer Michael Trent (Americana duo Shovels & Rope) is 37. Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 35. Singer-actress Monica Arnold is 34. Actress-comedian Casey Wilson is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer Adrienne Bailon (3lw) is 31. Actor Tim Pocock is 29. R&B singer-rapper-actor Drake is 28. Actress Shenae Grimes is 25. Actress Eliza Taylor is 25. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kyla Ross is 18.

Thought for Today: "You need not wonder whether you should have an unreliable person as a friend. An unreliable person is nobody's friend." -- Idries Shah, Indian-born author (1924-1996).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.